EMPLOYEES from Aberdeen’s official Nissan retailer are walking or running the distance between Land’s End and John O’Groats in a virtual challenge to raise funds for a local children’s charity.

Specialist Cars in Wellington Road is supporting The ARCHIE Foundation throughout September as they complete the 962-mile route. So far they have raised more than £500 and walked more than one million steps.

Named as ‘The Whatevers’, the team of Mark Dryden, Kevin Woods, Cheri Brown, Natalie Cooney and Patryk Wachala are doing so well that they are currently ranked 10th out of more than 170 teams across the country.

Mark said: “The ARCHIE Foundation has had such a big impact on helping families and their children in and around Aberdeen so we were really happy to get a team together for this challenge.

“It’s going really well so far. Everybody has got different levels of fitness so we do as much as we can. I am running to and from work every day, which is about 48 miles a week, and Kevin uses a pedometer and walks about 12,000 steps most days.”

He added: “It’s great that we’re doing something like this to help make a difference to the lives of children in the hospitals. We want to raise as much money as possible.”

The official charity of the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, Raigmore Hospital and Tayside Children’s Hospital, The ARCHIE Foundation is also the main charity partner of the John Clark Motor Group, the parent company of Specialist Cars Aberdeen.

More than 140,000 children are treated at the three hospitals every year and the charity also supports community-based teams operating throughout the north of Scotland and the Northern Isles, making sure their environments are perfect for children of all ages.